A very close relative had open heart surgery for an aortic valve replacement 2 days ago. She is 84 years old. She was extubated late the same day, and is now in the cardiac step down unit @ her hospital. According to her sister, she got out of bed with assistance yesterday, and spent 3 hours in a chair. Yikes! I couldn't do that. She still has bilateral chest tubes, a mediastinal tube, pacing wires, 2 IVs and a foley catheter. She said that she was in a lot of pain, but would do whatever they asked her to, so se could get well.
I did have a question. What can I expect as far as what's usually ordered for pain management for someone who is 1-2 days post-op? My experience has been in pediatric med-surg (to age 21) and NICU nursing only. The only thing my relative is receiving for pain is p.o. Percocet every 4 hours prn. She is allergic to Morphine.
She's hesitant to "bother" someone to ask for additional pain meds. She's of the old school that thinks if you ask the nursing staff for too much, they will be upset with you b/c you've "increased their work load", or are a 'high-maintenance" patient.
Is it fairly typical to use Percocet only for someone who's 24 hours post open heart surgery?
